Ad fund disclosure rules unveiled

State would be first in nation to reveal donors to advocacy groups

Published 11:19 pm, Tuesday, July 31, 2012

FILE - In this file photo taken April 11, 2011, New York State Inspector General Ellen Biben poses in Albany, N.Y. Biben will step down from the inspector general's job to become executive director of The Joint Commission on Public Ethics. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)

Under rules released Tuesday, New York would be the first state in the nation that would force disclosure by those who give substantial sums to advocacy groups.

Also known as 501(c)4s, since that's the section of tax law that makes them tax exempt, the groups include organizations such as The Committee to Save New York, which has run ads in support of Cuomo initiatives on the state budget as well as gay marriage and the property tax cap.

The groups are not supposed to directly endorse a given politician but they can back his or her programs.

The nonprofits have been criticized because their major donors hide behind a cloak of secrecy under present policy.

Under the new rules, individuals and entities giving more than $5,000 would have to file disclosure reports if they give to a lobbying group that spends more than $50,000.

The rules provide guidelines on disclosing "reportable business relationships" between lobbyists, clients and state officials.

The new regulations would also require joint disclosure — meaning that a husband and wife, or company and its subsidiary that each gave more than $2,500 would fall under the requirement.

"We now have practical proposed regulations and guidelines that provide for meaningful public disclosure," JCOPE Executive Director Ellen Biben said in a prepared statement.

The new regulations also go beyond 501(c)4s. They apply to lobbyists who "lobby on their own behalf" which means it could apply to trade groups.

Still, disclosure won't be 100 percent, since the rules will apply to donations made after July 1 of this year.

That means those who funded the Committee to Save New York's prior campaigns, including the $12 million in advertisements that supported earlier Cuomo initiatives, such as the tax cap and the governor's budget proposals, won't have to disclose their names, although they can do so voluntarily.

Donors can also apply for a waiver from the disclosure if they believe publishing their names would put them in danger.

A potential example could be someone who supported a pro-choice campaign but who fears they will be harassed or harmed by anti-abortion activists. They would have to make their case to the commission, however.

The rules, which need to go through a 90-day public comment period, drew praise from good-government advocates.

"I think they've actually done a good job," said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause, New York.

"This is really groundbreaking."

"The new regulations adopted by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics aim to end the practice of 'black box' lobbying in New York. The state is leading the way for the rest of the nation on transparency and accountability in lobbying activities," Kelly Williams, Corporate General Counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice said in an email.

Disclosure of advocacy groups has drawn scrutiny due in part to the sheer size of the Committee to Save NY, which raised $17 million last year, according to tax filings. While individual donors aren't listed, news reports have noted that major real estate developers as well as casino operators are among the donors.

Rob Speyer, of the Tishman Speyer real estate firm is one of the founders of the committee, according to earlier reports. Other big givers include the Genting company, which operates the Aqueduct racino and New York Gaming Association — a group of racinos pushing for legalized casino gambling.

The disclosure would come in January since that's when the next set of reports are due to be filed.